NORTH CANTON, Ohio – An 18-point second half lead slipped away from Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team as Walsh rallied to take a 72-68 victory Thursday night in GLIAC play in Alumni Arena.

The Panthers led 49-31 with 13:30 to play, but the Cavaliers used a 17-2 run to get back in the game, then scored the final six points of the game to steal the win.

Sophomore guard Lauren Bates (Hilliard, Ohio) scored a career-best 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting and ODU shot a season-high 51.9 percent (28-of-54). The Panthers also outrebounded Walsh 43-33 after the Cavaliers entered the game plus 9.3 on the glass, and ODU held the Cavaliers to just 37.3 percent shooting (25-of-67).

But ODU committed 24 turnovers, and the Cavaliers hit eight three-pointers to just one for ODU as Walsh improved to 16-8 (10-8 GLIAC). ODU fell to 7-16 (4-13 GLIAC).

The Panthers played from in front for most of the first half as Walsh's lone lead was at 2-0. Sophomore Kayla Cook (Westerville, Ohio) drilled a three from the top of the key to make it 23-16. Later, sophomore Madi Rittinger (Dayton, Ohio) blocked a shot which led to a run out and a freshman Megan Eyre (Fayetteville, Ohio) baseline jumper that gave the Panthers a 30-21 lead, and two free throws by senior Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, Ohio) gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the half at 32-21 with just under six minutes to play.

ODU, which started the half 12 of 17 shooting, went nearly five minutes without a basket, though, and Walsh scored seven straight points to draw within 32-28. A Hockenberry fast break layup ended the drought and gave ODU a 34-28 lead at the break.

Walsh hit a three early in the second half to draw within 34-31, but the Panthers answered with a 15-0 burst to seemingly take control of the game.

Sophomore Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) scored on two putbacks on offensive rebounds, then stuck a jumper from elbow to make it 40-31. Bates made a jumper and Liddane blocked a three point attempt, which led to a Cook three-point play in transition to make it 45-31, and the lead grew to 49-31 after an Eyre jumper with 13:30 left.

Walsh needed just 3:30 to answer with a 17-2 burst, though, drawing within 51-48 with 10:12 left.

Bates' layup stopped the run, and she drove and scored again to bump the Panther lead back out to seven, 55-48, with 8:30 left.

But the hosts would not go away. Rittinger sank a jumper to give ODU a 66-63 lead with 1:46 left, but Walsh answered with a triple to tie it.

Bates drove and scored to make it 68-66 with 1:11 to play. However, Walsh made a layup with a foul to tie it with 50.5 seconds. The Cavaliers missed the free throw, but grabbed the offensive rebound and scored to go on top 70-68 with 26.8 seconds.

ODU had a look to tie it with about 10 seconds left, but a jump shot missed, and the Cavaliers made two free throws to seal the win.

Hockenberry finished with 13 points and a season-high eight rebounds. Oestreich scored all nine of her points in the second half, Rittinger had eight points and blocked three shots, and Scherpenberg and Cook each scored seven points off the bench. Scherpenberg also grabbed a game-high 10 boards.

Ohio Dominican returns home to host Malone at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu